KARACHI, Aug 12: The Sindh High Court has restrained a builder from raising a commercial complex on a plot situated on a newly-commercialized road.

Twenty-two residents of the Modern Co-operative Housing Society, near Bahadarabad, complained that a multi-storeyed structure was planned to be raised on plot number nine in block three of the society, measuring 1000 square yards and facing the Shaheed-i-Millat Road.

The road has recently been declared a commercial lane by the city council pursuant to Change of Land Use and Master Planning Bye-Laws framed by the city district government under the provisions of the Sindh Local Government Ordinance and following a 1998 provincial government notification commercializing a number of city roads.

The plaintiffs challenged the CDGK bye-laws as being repugnant to the constitutional provisions guaranteeing the right to life, dignity of human person and the right to enjoy property. The proposed construction, they maintained, violated the easement rights they acquired over a long period of time.

They claimed that the area was purely residential and its conversion would contravene the very terms on which the lease was granted to the (original) lessee. They sought an interim injunction against the builder so that they were confronted with an irreversible fait accompli.

Allowing the plaintiffs’ plea for an interim injunction by a detailed judgment on Thursday, Justice Nadeem Azhar Siddiqui remarked that the case involved complicated questions of law and of facts that could not be decided without examining evidence. They have, however, made out a case for grant of an injunction as they would suffer an irreparable loss if it were not made. The balance of convenience was also in the plaintiffs’ favour.

The plot, the judgment noted, was admittedly situated in a residential area. The plaintiffs have a right to object to construction of a high-rise in their neighbourhood if they establish their right to privacy, light and air will be infringed. Apparently, the proposed commercialization violated clause 7 of the lease deed, which says that the plot and the construction raised thereon raised from time to time shall be used for residential purposes only except with the previous consent in writing of the lessor (the federal works ministry). The judgment pointed out that the defendant builder had not obtained any approval from the lessor. The CDGK NOC was apparently in violation of the lease.

Rejecting the argument that only lessor could object to any violation of lease conditions, it said the plaintiffs had a right to object for any violation had a direct bearing on them.

Besides, the plaintiffs have also alleged violation of easement rights. Citing the 1994 Supreme Court judgment in the case of Abdur Razak versus the KBCA, the judgment said the construction of high-rises in a neighbourhood without providing the necessary infrastructure could not be in the interest of its residents.